Thursday, 7 June 2012

Love and Affection

With such a succession of MOT failures in our early days together (most of them failures even to reach the test station), I suppose the least I’m owed is two passes in a row. Good.

270 KTA sailed through her second MOT yesterday, quite literally. Yesterday was the wettest day since biblical times, and now we know why Noah chose not to fit an opening windscreen to his ark. SUs were always known to leak in severe weather, and I’m happy to confirm that mine still upholds the tradition very well.

Between that and the nearside wiper being blown onto the roof every other mile, plus visibility so poor that I’ve now almost forgiven myself for missing a turning, our usually pleasant two-hour journey up to Guscott’s of Halwill Junction turned into a three hour struggle against the elements.

We arrived way too late for our 8am slot, so 270 KTA had to spend an unexpected day in Halwill waiting for a vacant MOT slot in the afternoon. Meanwhile, her (soaking wet) owner was kindly given the use of a Guscott’s courtesy car to get him back to Plymouth in time for his radio show. It was not my finest hour…

That said, when I arrived (post-show) at Guscott’s exactly twelve hours later to collect our friend, I was very light of heart: it was a pass. Another year of adventures and, crucially, celebrations in her 50th year.

I was completely knackered. The drive back was like the drive there, only darker. After locking 270 KTA away for the night, I eventually arrived home at midnight – 20 hours after I’d left home that morning. It must be love.

Thinking about it, I don’t know when somebody last managed to keep 270 KTA on the road for two consecutive years. It’s probably not even within my lifetime. Other than the (distinctly questionable) lapsed MOT I inherited when I bought her, the only certificate I have is from 1982/3. Given the history, it’s plausible this was the last time.

So… we’re on for Weymouth on June 17th, and the 50th Anniversary tour that week. For those who have been waiting forever for details of that, I will be setting it in stone on Sunday; details will follow here, and on email for those who have asked to be kept informed… Plus, I’ll reveal that salacious gossip I promised in my last post – it all ties in.

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This blog is an ongoing chronicle of the adventures I share with my preserved 1962 Bristol SUL4A coach.

Here you'll find tales aplenty of the joy and strife associated with keeping alive a 55 year old vehicle.

Our adventures have been many and varied over the past seven years. The blog’s archive contains rich and colourful stories of success and failure that have typified life with 270 KTA so far; stories of man and machine in perfect harmony, briefly but sometimes brutally interrupted by the odd discordant note.

This blog now has a 'brother' in BDV252C.co.uk, which follows the long-term restoration of my 1965 Bristol SUL bus. To balance the tales of woe and elation in each story, I recommend you follow the two blogs in equal measure!

David Sheppard, 2018

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About 270 KTA

270 KTA (420) is a 1962 Bristol SUL4A coach, one of 36 such coaches built for Western National and Southern National for use in the West of England. They were predominantly for local tours but also provided relief on express services to London and the North during busy periods.

Bristol's SU-type was a narrow, lightweight chassis designed specifically for use in rural areas. As well as the South West, SU coaches found their way to Wales, with bus-bodied counterparts in Yorkshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of the Home Counties.

420 has a 33-seat body built by Eastern Coachworks of Lowestoft and a 4-cylinder Albion EN250H diesel engine, mounted horizontally underfloor and coupled to a David Brown 5-speed gearbox.

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A BRIEF HISTORY

420 worked from Western National's Kingsbridge depot when new, where it was to be pride of the fleet for six years. With the decline in local coach tours it moved to Taunton where, along with most other SU coaches, alterations were made to enable use on local bus routes.

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Moving to Trowbridge depot in 1968, it was something of a oddity in Wiltshire and as such was very well photographed during its stay. When the Trowbridge operation was transferred away from Western National, 420 was returned to Taunton, narrowly missing transfer to the Bristol Omnibus fleet. (Or did it?)

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420 was renumbered 1220 in June 1971 and, following a spell at Bridgwater depot, was transferred to the Devon General fleet. Accordingly, it received poppy red and white livery - the only SUL coach to be so treated. It was also the only one of its batch to be fully downgraded to bus configuration, with the removal of headrests and the addition of extra seats.

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Withdrawn from Weymouth depot (still red), '1220' later worked as a school bus in Sussex, before returning to the West to join the fleet of Willis, Bodmin. It was donated to the Western National Preservation Group in 1995, and remained with them for several years, although its poor mechanical state meant it was little used.

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Purchased by me in December 2009, it was returned to the road in 2011 after major mechanical attention. A rolling programme of restoration has continued while allowing 420 to be used at events and enjoyed by others. By fluke or fate, it now lives just a few miles away from its original home in Kingsbridge and is part of a family fleet of five preserved Bristol vehicles.

270 KTA's Owner and Scribe

David Sheppard lives in the South West of England. He has been involved in bus and coach preservation for more than 25 years, having helped his father to restore their first bus at the age of seven.

David is a trustee and director of the Thames Valley & Great Western Omnibus Trust and a director of NARTM, the National Association of Road Transport Museums, which represents the heritage transport movement to Government departments and agencies, regulators and funding bodies.

A broadcaster by trade, he hosts his own regional show on BBC radio stations across the south‐western quarter of the UK and Channel Islands.